


Our Plea To The Universe

by littlepogchampion



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24047149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlepogchampion/pseuds/littlepogchampion
Summary: Warnings: Remus, blood, injury, major character injury, death, hospitals, the “one bed” trope but it’s not awkward, maybe swearing? i honestly can’t remember if i edited them out,Ship: LAMP (either romantic or platonic w/ lovey-dovey nicknames, you choose)This story is basically if a twelve-year-old writer wrote a story about how capitalism is bad and put it in space and this is even worse than pom(h)s (which is extremely hard to do) and i the amount of sleep i’ve gotten in the last week is equivalent to the amount of sleep a normal human person gets in a day.enjoy! i’m going to bed now
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Our Plea To The Universe

“Captain?” Logan turned at the call, as a young Foalton-Terra hybrid made his way onto the bridge of the ship.

“Yes, Dee?”

“The fugitives were spotted heading for the wealthy sector of Sol-176428.”

“Any guesses to targets and motives?”

Dee worried the scales (typical for Foalton people) on his hand, obviously trying to keep his nervousness to a minimum. “Not really, Captain. Re-one of them boasted to a bar on Saneb that he was going to ‘rob a rich person so bad, he’ll have to give up his moon’.”

Logan nodded. “How many moons belong to the wealthy in Sol-176428?”

“All-all of them.”

“Thank you, Dee. You may return to your station.”

Dee turned away, but no one on the bridge could miss the blush that spread over the Terran side of his face as he hurried out.

The captain turned to his pilot. “Please set a course for Sol-176428. We’ll need to move fast if we’re to catch these criminals red-handed.”

-

Roman’s boots sent dust flying as he carefully approached the home of Highfalutin.

_He made his fortune by ruining Earth,_ he thought. _And tonight, I’ll make my fortune by ruining him._

Next to him, Roman’s twin brother Remus crept, wielding a glowing green gun.

“I thought I told you to leave that behind!” he hissed. “You’ll give us away!”

“Aw, Ro, I couldn’t! It was too fun! Besides, I wanna use it on the old guy!”

“No. Go put it back.”

Instead of obliging, Remus glicked off the light and dropped it in the dust.

Roman rolled his eyes, but continued sneaking toward the mansion.

Highfalutin was away, at a big social gathering, down on the surface of the planet this moon belonged to, Barrib.

“What are we looking for, Roman?” Leo asked, fiddling with a camera’s wires.

“Anything that proves he helped to start the Final War.” He thought for a second. “And anything valuable. Promised Andy I’d get his family enough to eat for a month.”

Leo nodded and disabled the alarms, and just like that, they were in.

Roman slid his dark-vision goggles over his eyes. SScanning the room, he pointed out a solid gold sculpture, picture frame, and tea set (really? a tea set? Rich people were strange) for his crew to take back to the ship.

Remus caught hold of his sleeve and dragged him to a desk littered with papers. Roman brightened. This could be the evidence they were looking for!

The two of them sifted through the piles of notes and documents until Remus held up a letter.

Skimming through it quickly, Roman grinned broadly. _It practically confesses to purposely ruining Earth!_

Remus, reading over his shoulder, exchanged excited glances with him.

“Come on, we gotta get out!” Remus whispered, shoving handfuls of papers into his bag.

Bright lights shined through the windows, and the twins froze.

“We have the house surrounded! Come out!”

They slowly exited the house, squinting in the white floodlights.

As their eyes adjusted, they could see that they were surrounded by ten or more UP single-ships. In front of them, blocking their path to the _Mythical_ , hovered the UP mother ship.

Roman examined the ground for his crew.

Nothing.

So everyone else had made it to the ship already.

_Now we’ve just gotta get there._

Without a word, Remus darted forward, leaving Roman standing dumbly in the dust. He came to a sliding halt thirty meters ahead, kicking a dusty shape into his hand.

_The gun._

It began to glow green again, and Remus aimed it at a ship readying it’s weapons and fired.

The ship spiraled down in a plume of smoke, sending the single pilot inside running out.

Grinning, Roman ran to his brother, drawing his own weapon.

“Roman? What…what is that?” Remus asked, gesturing to Roman’s weapon, a metal rod with a handle.

Instead of responding, Roman pressed a button, turning the rod into a beam of electricity.

“Nice.” Remus nodded appreciatively, taking down another ship. “Can you get the guy on your left?”

Roman spun, just barely deflecting the stun wand of the pilot Remus took down first.

He jabbed them with the electric sword, knocking them down and turning to meet the next pilot.

Remus was taking out the ships like flies, without a care in the world, but as Roman slashed and jabbed, he couldn’t help worrying. The mother ship was raising her weapons, charging up to fire at the brothers. And Roman knew that those would hurt a lot more.

Roman was so distracted that he didn’t even see the last guy.

Someone tackled him to the ground, their arm across his throat. As he gasped for air, he saw a half-Terran, half-Foalton face, menacingly raising a stun wand.

Remus shot them with the gun.

Heaving himself up to his feet, he grabbed the neckline of his brother’s shirt and hightailed it back to the _Mythical._

Talyn held the door open, ushering them inside. Before closing the door, they grabbed the gun from Remus and aimed, hitting the huge hovertech with one well-placed shot.

“Wow.” Roman said, shutting the door.

“Now they can’t follow us.” Talyn said, disappearing into the bridge.

The ship began moving, rising into the air gracefully and speeding off.

Wiping his forehead, Roman went into his room, sitting down on his hammock.

The room was supposed to be for both him and Remus, but for reasons completely unfathomable to Roman, his twin preferred to sleep in the treasure room.

Switching out his black shirt for his customary red one, he descended into the bowels of the ship to go check on their newest loot.

He knocked on the door to his brother’s ‘room’ and waited.

Someone(Roman suspected Joan) had plastered a radioactive sticker on the door.

“Come in!”

Roman opened the door. “Okay, first, that guy you shot. Will they be okay?”

“Oh yeah, they’ll be fine.”

“…How do you know? That gun took down a _ship._ Multiple ships!”

“I’ve shot myself with that thing a bunch of times and I’m fine!”

Roman gazed at Remus’s lopsided, terrifying smile. “Uh-huh.” He gestured at the papers lying across the table. “Have you gotten a chance to look at these?”

“Kinda. I found a map of Earth, dated from before the Final War, and got distracted.”

“What’s on it?” Roman asked.

“The US treasury. Sure, those little green papers may not help us anymore, but there might be gold!”

“Remus, the atmosphere on Earth is toxic!”

“So we’ll be fast. Besides, what’s a little lung poisoning to gold and diamonds?”

“Still…” Roman hesitated.

“We’ll be able to feed all the families in the Squalid for _months._ ”

That did it.

“Fine. We’re going to Earth.

-

Patton swung the squeaky door open, hugging a bundle of browning grass close to his chest. His little hut, the only home Patton had ever known, seemed too quiet, too still.

It was awfully lonely, being the last person on Earth.

Still, the little house was home, no matter the number of occupants.

The bed sat in the corner, covered in messy furs, and bloodstained cloths. His fireplace was blazing, heating up an old pot with soup bubbling inside. Herbs and plants dried, hanging from the ceiling.

And an unfinished portrait, his parent’s eyes smiling out at him, leaned against the wall. It hurt too much to look at. Patton tuned away, hoping to keep the thoughts out.

They came anyway.

“Dad, please. You were always convinced that the people would come back for you. For _us._ But twenty years have gone by. I don’t want them back. I want _you_ back.”

Tears dripped down his face. “Mom. I can’t do this. You’ve been gone a month. They aren’t coming back, are they? I’m going to die alone on this big planet, but then I guess I’ll finally get to see you again.”

With a sob, he sprinted out under the yellow sky, blindly running away from the place where his parents died.

He tore through the terrain he had lived in all his life, leaping over trash without seeing it.

The harsh voice returned to his head, relentlessly repeating, _Your parents are dead because you couldn’t save them._

Finally, Patton stopped, if only for his need for air.

Panting and coughing, he swallowed the coppery taste that filled his mouth, looking around to see where he ended up.

_The city._

Patton had scavenged here a few times with his parents, but he had always been warned not to go alone.

_These buildings are unstable,_ his dad had warned. _You should always be with someone if you’re going to the city._

Patton let out a broken laugh. _I don’t have much of a choice anymore._

And he picked his way through the cracked streets.

A dust covered sign read **Boutique,** and Patton pushed the door handle, straining against whatever held the door shut.

Something gave way, and Patton stumbled into the dusty shop.

Hacking painfully into his fist, he wiped his mouth and looked around.

Snowglobes lay shattered everywhere, and mannequins lay on the floor, looking a bit _too_ much like dead bodies..

_The bombs really did a number on this place._

He stripped the clothes off the statues, packing them into his bag.

Opening a tiny glass box, he pulled out bottles and cans of liquids foreign to Patton, but he packed them up anyway. Who knew when he would next get something to drink?

Admiring a rack of shiny pins, Patton scooped them into a side pocket of his bag.

After he had effectively ravaged the shop of any useful items, he walked back into the outdoors, stepping carefully around glass shards.

Scanning up and down the street for the next shop to scavenge, a noise caught his attention.

Craning his head to look up, he watched a silvery ship soar over his head, landing in the field by his house.

_The humans! They’ve come back for us!_

_They’ve come back for…me._

Patton shook his head to ignore the pang of his heart, making for the field, scrambling up a trash pile as he watched humans file out of the ship.

Someone stood near the line, wearing a red shirt, directing the crew to go to a half sunken building.

_I have to go talk to them!_

Patton climbed down the trash pile and approached the one in the red shirt, tapping them on the shoulder.

They turned, then jumped, and from their mouth issued the most beautiful voice Patton had ever heard.

And he couldn’t understand a word they were saying.

Confusion must have shown on his face, because a look of realization dawned on their face, and they stopped one of their crewmembers and gestured to their ear.

The crewmember placed a small, black…thing into their palm and ran off to the building. They handed it to Patton, who looked up at them, bewildered.

Red-shirt let out a sigh, turning their head and pulling their hair away so Patton could see how it was supposed to go in.

Hooking it over his ear, the voice slowly became more intelligible.

“…you hear me?”

“Yes!” Patton answered, astonished at the fact that he was talking to someone _new._

“Good! My name’s Roman, he/him. What are you doing here?”

‘Um, my name’s he/him too, I guess and I live here?”

Roman laughed, then seemed to realize it wasn’t a joke. “Wait, you actually live here? But that’s impossible!”

“Why?”

“Because, nobody lives on Earth!”

“Well, I do! I guess that means you aren’t here to save me?”

“That’s not why we came, but we definitely aren’t leaving you here! It can’t be safe to live here all by yoursel- wait, do you live here by yourself?’

Patton looked down, fighting back tears. “I-I didn’t always.”

Roman came closer. “I’m sorry, Patton. I know what that’s like.” He took Patton’s hand. “Now, go get whatever you wanna bring. You’re one of us now!”

Patton took off towards his hut, grinning widely.

Collecting the items he loved from around the room, folding each one into his bag with loving care.

He put out the fire in the fireplace, pouring water on it until it smoked.

His parent’s rings, strung on a cord and tied in the back, tucked down the front of his shirt.

Finally he stood in front of the picture of his parents, captured as they were before the sickness.

“Mom, Dad,” he began. “I’m going. I probably won’t ever be back. I really wish you could come with me, but–“ He stooped and pressed a kiss to each of their painted heads. “I love you.”

With that, he turned and left, shutting the door on the little hut forever.

Roman was still waiting by the ship as he ran back to him.

“We gotta go! Everyone’s so excited to meet you!”

He was led onto the ship, Roman closing the door behind him.

“This is the galley,” Roman whispered, pushing open the door to where several people sat. “Everyone, this is Patton. He’ll be probably living with us for a while. Patton, meet – “

“No time for that!” someone in a green shirt called. “What if a UP ship followed us?”

Roman shot an exasperated glance at the person but obliged, following them out of the galley.

Patton trailed after him. “UP?”

“Universal Protection.”

“Why is a protection service following you? Are you mean?”

“We’re thieves!” called the person in the green shirt.

“Shut up, Remus!” Roman turned back to him. “While my brother’s description is… crude, he’s got it mostly right. Though, I prefer the term ‘pirates’. It sounds more gallant, don’t you think?”

Roman took off after Remus, sprinting down the hallway. When he saw Patton was still lagging behind, he called, “Hurry up, slowpoke!”

Patton ran at top speed, which was apparently too much for his lungs to handle.

He dissolved into a coughing fit, frantically patting down his bag for a cloth as he felt the familiar metallic taste fill his mouth.

After a couple of minutes, he was finally able to breathe, taking Roman’s concerned helping hand.

“I though you were going to cough up your right lung!” Remus joked from somewhere in front of them. Patton raised his head to look at him…then saw through the window outside.

“Welcome to the stars, Patton! What’s it like, seeing something you’ve seen all your life, so close?”

“I’ve never seen these before,” Patton said, pressing his face against the giant pane of glass.

“Never? Not ever? What about at night?”

“What are you talking about?” Patton looked at him, confused. “Night was darkness. The only thing in the sky was the moon.”

Roman muttered something under his breath, but Patton didn't hear it. He raised his voice. “Remus, I'mma go find Patton a room. Please don't take a ship to another Daorus.”

Remus cackled maniacally as they left the room.

“What happened on Daorus?”

“We don't talk about what happened on Daorus.”

Over the next few weeks, Patton met the crew: Cam, Talyn, Joan, Leo, Terrence, and Valerie. They looked vaguely human, but only two of them, Roman told him, were actually human.

“Joan’s Terran, Talyn’s Puadun, Leo's Wistchen, Valerie’s Terran, Terrence is Chimez, and Cam’s Hoxon.”

“Terran? Izzat a planet?”

Roman looked at him for a second. “Sorry, I keep forgetting how little you know. Terra is the planet where all the humans fled after the Final War.”

“Not all of them,” quipped Patton. “What's the Final War?”

Roman gently pushed him into a chair. “You're going to want to sit down for this. As anyone can tell you, my history talks get kinda long-winded. Stop me if I'm boring you, okay?”

“Okay!”

“So 20 years ago, before most of us in the ship were even born, a war broke out on Earth. The billionaire's had just pooled their money and bought a planet, one completely livable for citizens. However, in order to get their money back, people had to live there.”

Roman paused for breath, then continued. “Nobody wanted to go. Earth and humans were finally coexisting healthily, and we had entered the Galaxial Peace Treaty. No one was fighting. Then the atmosphere began to get worse. People with damaged or weak lungs begin to cough uncontrollably, and most didn’t make it. War began over who would ruin the planet, and with people dropping off left and right, all that was left was people had been smart and stayed out of it.”

The government– what was left of it – ushered people and animals onto ships, making sure no one was left behind. They couldn't afford to lose any more people. And on the two-year trip from Earth to Terra, I was born! Oh, and my brother too, I guess.”

Roman took a seat. “So what about you? Do you know how you got stuck on Earth?”

Patton hesitated.

“Hey, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it.”

“No, it's fine.” He breathed, fully aware everyone in the gallery was watching him now. “Apparently, I asked my dad to tell me this story every single night when I was six, so I know it very well. I suppose I'll start where you left off, Roman. My dad had lost sight of my mom in the crowd to board the ships, and he ran around looking for her. Finally, he passed a porthole, and saw her outside, hobbling toward the ship. She was 7 months pregnant with me, you see. He ran out the door and picked my mom up, but as he began to run back to the ship with her, the door closed. My dad tried to get people's attention, but nothing worked, and the ships took off without them. My dad remained optimistic though. He built us a tiny hut, and I grew up not knowing anyone else. They taught me everything in case a ship ever came. But –“

He swallowed down a sob. “But they died almost two months ago. They had been coughing really bad, and…”

Patton shut up, willing himself not to cry.

Roman laid a hand on his arm. “Thank you, Patton.”

He nodded, still fighting tears.

Roman opened his mouth, but Talyn burst in, grinning widely. “We’re at Maginare!”

Everyone whooped and cheered, and Roman told Patton, “Maginare is an _entire_ planet filled with vendors and shops. We can barter away all the treasure we find! You get to come see all this universe has to offer!”

The crew shouted, sweeping Patton along and pulling him towards the door.

Roman slipped his hand into Patton’s and Patton blushed, but internally he was thrilled. _I can't wait for this trip!_

Suddenly, the noise died down. “What?” Roman asked, craning his head to see over his crew. “What's wrong?”

Peering out the door, he got his answer.

Docked in the port next to them was a big black ship, with bright white letters emblazoned across the side.

**Universal Protection**

“We can't go out there,” Joan whispered, turning to the rest of them. “And we can't leave carrying all this.”

“I have an idea, but only if Patton agrees.” Roman said. He looked at Patton, still gripping his hand. “You're the only one of us who won’t be recognized. Please, will you go and sell a few of our treasures? It won't take long, I promise, and we’ll take you back another time, when it’s safe.”

“O-Okay.”

“Really? Thank you!”

Quick as a flash, the crew outfitted Patton with a bag of riches and a list of shops to sell specific items to.

Roman had one last gift, a silver bracelet with a blue gemstone embedded in the center. “It's an emergency aid service. Press the jewel and it'll alert us. Don’t tell anyone you’re from Earth.”

Patton nodded, and descended the stairs from the ship.

“Good luck, sunshine.” Roman murmured, and the door closed.

Bouyed by his glee, Patton entered the masses flowing on the street.

Looking around in wonder, he watched aliens shopping, eating, or just talking and laughing.

His universal translator allowed him to listen to the chatter going on around him.

_They aren’t aliens, Patton_ , he told himself. _**You’re**_ _on_ ** _their_** _planet_.

The first few sales went smoothly, getting someone to point him into the right shop, and reading off Romans list.

When he got to the vendor section, though, his journey went downhill. Patton quickly learned that hardly anything was legal in this part of the Maginare planet.

Nobody here was willing to help a 20-year old kid who didn't know what he was doing. It took an hour to find the first vendor on his list, a human-looking seller with a tag reading _Virgil, he/him._

“Hi?”he said nervously. “I'm Patton, and I'm supposed to sell you thi-“

Patton broke into a coughing fit. He clawed it at his pocket, trying to finish out his cloth but red splattered on the cobblestones underneath him. In a moment of panic, he slammed his hand on his blue bracelet. then, amidst the panicked yells of Virgil and his own scratchy coughs, Patton’s vision went dark.

-

Virgil darted out from behind the stall, catching Patton gracefully before they hit the ground.

Wiping the corner of their mouth, Virgil set them down, considering his options.

He could leave the stranger here, see if they woke up? But what if they had something wrong with them?

He could try to find their family? But what if they were alone?

Which left only the third option. Go find a UP officer. They'd be able to help.

Virgil locked all his wares into a tiny chest, then hauled Patton to their feet, looping their arm around his neck. He heard a clink behind him as he dragged Patton down the street, but he didn’t look back.

He rushed to the vendor District as fast as he could go, looking around for officers. Finally, he spotted one.

“Hey!” he called, dragging Patton over to their station. The nametag read _Thea, it/it’s._

It peered down at them with it’s one eye, grinning widely. “Hello! Who are you, cuties?”

Then it noticed the blood. “Oh no. They're not looking too hot, are they? Do you know what happened?”

Virgil just shook his head. “They were just at my stall, and started coughing and collapsed.”

“Well, I can't do much,” Thea said, “But my boss, Logan, he’ll know what to do. Follow me!”

It exited it’s stall, moving way too fast on it’s six legs.

Virgil could barely keep up.

The three of them made it to the Shop District and finally up to the ports, the giant, black UP ship towering above the rest.

“Here we are!” Thea said, waving a green hand at the vessel.

It led them inside. “Captain!” it called. “We need your help!”

A man entered the room. “Thea? What - Oh.”

Virgil blushed under Logan’s scrutinizing stare, knowing he looked like a mess. Then Patton’s head lolled against his shoulder, and he remembered why he was there.

“They need help,” he told the captain, gesturing at Patton. “I don't know-“

“What’s goin on?” Patton asked, voice thick and scratchy.

Logan knelt down in front of them. “Do you know where you are?”

Patton looked around blearily. “I got off the ship n’ then I sold some stuff n’ then I was by your stall…”

They inspected the metallic interior of the ship. “What's this place?”

“This is a Universal Protection ship. Logan told them. “And you definitely need protection.”

-

“Can you tell us your name and pronouns?” Logan asked them, trying to get a bearing on the extent of your injuries.

“My name is Patton, he / him,” Patton slurred. “My throat hurts.”

‘ Well, giving you apparently coughed yourself into unconsciousness, I would think so!” Thea boomed, smiling.

“Well, if that's the case,” Logan said. “Thea, please inform the Domicile that we will be heading to the Firchen hospital, by Sol - 1 94152. I would like to ensure this man's safety personally. The criminals haven't been spotted in weeks, the hunt can wait another few days.”

“Criminals?” Patton croaked out.

Logan stood, motioning for Virgil and Patton to follow. “I lead the investigation for the twin thieves, Roman and Remus. We haven't seen them in a few weeks, and I highly doubt we’ll get into a fight with you on board. Alright?”

Virgil nodded, but Patton was silent. Logan thought his eyes flicked to the porthole they passed, but brushed it off.

“We have this room open for you, Patton. Virgil, I assume that you want to continue working on Maginare.”

“No!” Virgil clapped a hand over his mouth, composing himself. “I mean, I want to make sure Patton’s safe too.”

“Very well. There's an extra bed in here, so you two will be sharing a room. Is this adequate?”

They nodded, and Logan said, “Dining times and a map of the ship is programmed onto the screen in there. If you get alerts for anything other than meals, private messages, or emergencies, please disregard them. I don't want my crew’s training and work to be disrupted.”

He gave him a rare smile. “I hope you can help you, Patton.”

It took a few days to get from Maginare to Firchen. And in those few days, Patton and Virgil became part of the family.

Logan even found myself liking his unexpected guests. He sat with them at mealtimes, took them on tours of the immense ship, and even taught Patton basic driving lessons in one of the pods(Virgil wasn't interested in learning, but he cheered Patton on from the sidelines).

When they arrived in Firchen, Logan was sad to see them go.

But apparently that was not to be.

We haven't seen poisoning this bad since the Terran influx, and none of them made it,” a doctor confided in Logan. “You've no idea where he came from?”

Logan shook his head. “He never told me.”

The doctor sighed. “The only way to help him is to get him an entirely new set of lungs. This will take a month to make and prepare, and I estimate that's about all the time he's got.”

“So is he staying here?”

“Well, I had hoped that you would want to stay with him. I hate keeping such a free spirit bound to a bed, especially with that friend he's got, Virgil. Wouldn’t leave his side for anything!”

Logan brightened. “We can let them stay on the ship?”

“That is what I was-“

“We’ll keep them!”

“Great! Just don't let Patton off your ship, not even to play on a random planet. Too many oxygen level shifts could damage his lungs further. And make sure he's wearing this when he arrives.”

The doctor pressed a wristband into Logan's palm. “Without his fingerprints in the galaxial database, he can't get the surgery without this identification band.”

Logan agreed, and Patton and Virgil were back on the ship.

As soon as the UP ship pulled away and the crew’s hands loosened, Roman dashed into the street.

He pushed through the crowds, following the tracker displayed on the screen.

And he found himself in the vendor section.

Roman forged on, fearing more for Patton with every step.

The handheld screen beeped, reading that Roman was right on top of Patton.

No sign of him.

Roman looked down and caught a glimmer poking out from under his boot.

_Patton’s bracelet._

He picked it up, watching the silver and blue sparkle _._

_Patton, I'm sorry_.

The crew couldn’t get Roman out of his bunk for days.

When Joan tried luring him out with food, they were met with a stony silence. When Terrance requested permission to plan another operation, a muffled, “Do whatever you want,” came from the other side of the door. At one point, Remus picked the lock and burst in, demanding his brother return to running the _Mythical,_ so Remus could go back to goofing off.

Nothing worked.

And there was still no sign of Patton.

It was only two weeks after Patton's disappearance that something happened.

Alarm bells rang throughout the ship.

Roman started, more alert than he had been in weeks. “What's wrong?” He called down the hallway. “What’s – ah!”

Talyn was dragging him down the hallway to the bridge. Roman tried to free himself, but their grip was like a vice. “Talyn, that hurts, let go!”

“No! We're being fired on by a UP mothership, and I am not letting you mope in your room while the rest of us die! Now, go shoot!”

They shoved him towards the open gun control, and Roman took a seat,powering up the gun.

White beams shot from the guns, and Roman reloaded, eyes to the purview. “Circle around, please?”

The _Mythical_ rounded the bigger ships, Roman scanning the hull for weak spots.

So he was able to see Patton, worried face pressed against the porthole, only a short distance away from his own face.

Roman screamed, jerking his head away from the purview.

“Roman?”

“Patton…Patton’s on that ship!”

“Really? Let me see.” Remus jumped down from the steering, forcing Leo to grab it.

He shoved his brother out of the chair, and Roman took control of the familiar wheel. Carefully angling it so his brother could see, he passed the porthole again.

“I saw him, he's –“

“This is not the time!” Talyn practically screamed. “Roman, I want Patton back too, but if we get killed, it won't matter!”

For the first time in weeks, Roman snapped back into captain mode. “Right. Remus and Terrence, I’m going to make one more pass around a ship. Fire at bothe prepulsion jets, then take off behind them. Leo, as we fly over them, drop the tracer on to the hull.”

The others followed his plan, and as the tracer clicked onto the ship, they flew off, leaving the UP ship to run on emergency jets to the nearest planet.

“Tonight,” Roman announced, “We go get Patton.”

Logan wasn’t smiling when he sat down to eat with them.

“Those two!” he growled. Then he seemed to realize that he wasn't alone. Rearranging his face into a neutral expression, he said, “I suppose you've heard of our little fiasco with the twins?”

Virgil and Patton nodded.

Well, we have to dock on a planet to make repairs.”

Patton’s face lit up. “Can I go explore?”

“Patton, the doctor said you weren’t to leave the ship. The oxygen-to-air ratio shift could damage your lungs further.”

Patton slumped back in his chair. Logan reached across the table and took his hand. “Patton, I promise, when you have your lungs, we’ll take you to any planet you wish.”

Virgil’s hand covered his other one, and he softly said, “You could even come live with me on Maginare, if you want.”

Patton squeezed both their hands. “Thanks.”

They finished their dinner and then went their separate ways.

Logan to oversee the landing, and Patton and Virgil to get ready for bed. Patton diligently took his medicine, then lay down in the bed, letting his tiredness overtake him.

Someone was shaking his shoulders. “Patton! Patton, wake up!”

Patton blearily opened his eyes. “Dad? Mom?”

“No, Patton, it's me! Roman!”

His blurry vision solidified, and he could see Roman grinning out from the dark. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm going to rescue you! You didn't think I was going to leave you with Logan, did you? Come on!”

“Roman, I can't leave, I have to go back to the hospital in two weeks!”

“What? Why?”

Behind Roman, Virgil sat up. “Patton? What are you –“

Then he noticed Roman. “Get away from him, you, you…pirate!”

He slid out of bed, putting himself between Roman and Patton.

“Virgil,” said Patton, getting out of bed. “You've misunderstood the situation. Roman isn't trying to hurt me. He wants to rescue me in the clutches of the ‘evil Logan’.”

“Patton, as soon as you're done with whatever it is you're doing, Logan's going to arrest you. You have no ID, no family, and nobody to vouch for the fact that you came from Earth. Well, nobody but me, and I'm not exactly a reliable witness.”

Virgil looked at Patton in shock. “You came from – “

“Virgil, please. Not now.” He turned to Roman resignedly. “Fine. I'll come with you. Just let me grab my stuff.”

Patton scooped his meds and some clothes into a bag, tidying up his bed so it looked like it hadn't been slept in. Lastly, he turned to Virgil. Please do me a favor, Vee. Tell them you don't know where I went. Say you woke up and I was gone. I –“

“Oh no. You think I'm letting you go off on your own? No, I'm coming too.”

He stuffed some clothes into his bag and the three of them crept into the hallway.

“Watch your step,” hissed Roman, leading them over the unconscious body of Dee.

_He was teaching me how to speak Foalton,_ Patton thought. _Will he be all right?_

They passed more unconscious officers. Patton recognized Thea, it's six legs still twitching.

“Remus and his gun,” responded Patton, following Patton’s gaze. “They'll be okay.”

They came to the metal doors, where Leo was waiting, ready to release them of the push of a button. Roman motioned to open the doors, walking out to the darkness of the planet.

Patton moved to follow, but Virgil grabbed his hand.

“The doctor said you weren't supposed to leave! It’ll damage your lungs!”

“I have no choice, Virgil! If I get arrested for not having an ID, I can't work my way out of it. I like Logan, a lot, but he's committed to his job. So I have to go.”

Virgil squeezed his hand determinedly. “Then I'm going too.”

As they passed through the airlock, Patton doubled over, the quick change in oxygen levels taking its toll on his lungs.

Roman picked him up, bridal style, and motioned for the frightened Virgil to follow on to the ship.

Patton's cough subsided as they took off, leaving the UP ship in the dust.

“Patton, Virgil, why don't you two guys go back to bed. Patton, you know where your bunk is. Virgil, allow me to –“

“No.” Virgil snapped, a show of force Patton hadn’t seen out of him. “I need to talk to Patton.”

He spun away from Roman, and Patton led him out and to his room. Virgil locked the door behind them, and, when he turned around, he looked less angry. “Why didn’t you tell me you were from Earth?”

“Didn't come up,” Patton said honestly. “What was I supposed to say?”

“Nothing, I guess,” sighed Virgil. “How did you get mixed up with... them?”

“They found me. On Earth. But obviously, they couldn't drop me off on a planet, so I just stayed with them.”

“Are they nice?”

“Yeah, they're all super nice! Tomorrow, I'm going to introduce you to the rest of the ship.” He yawned. “I think we should go to sleep.”

“Alright. I'll go find Roman and see where my bed is.”

“No… I mean you could stay in here.” Patton blushed. “Only if you want to, I mean.”

Virgil's face was flushed red, but he nodded.

There was a bit of awkward maneuvering to fit inside the hammock comfortably, but as Patton closed his eyes against Virgil’s chest, he heard Virgil say, “Patton?”

“Hm?”

“Do you think Roman will let you go back to Firchen? You need that surgery.”

“I hope so.”

And the two drifted off into a worried sleep.

The next day, Virgil met the crew. As Virgil introduced himself, Patton pulled Roman off to the side, asking, “Will I be able to get to Firchen in two weeks?”

“Patton, it isn't safe right now. Maybe after all the buzz dies down. It won't take long, a month at least, if we don't show our faces anywhere.”

Patton didn't know how to tell him that he might not have that long.

But he pushed it out of his head, resolving to convince Roman later.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,” Patton sang, folding up clothing and tidying up his and Virgil’s room.

“You make me happy, when skies are gray,” Virgil continued, throwing dirty clothes into a basket.

A hand grabbed Patton and spun him, giggling, into Roman’s arms. “You'll never know dear,” Roman joined in, holding out another arm to Virgil, “How much I love you,”

The three of them sang the last line together, twirling in the middle of the room. “Don't let them take my sunshine away.”

Patton broke the circle, laughing.

A fond smile graced his lips as he watched Roman and Virgil slow dance to a song only they could hear.

And as Roman left the room, blushing, a seedling of an idea planted itself in Patton’s head.

The days flew by, carrying the deadline closer and closer, and each day, Patton’s idea grew.

Finally, two nights before his surgery was scheduled, Patton excused himself from the evening meal early.

_I need all the time I can get to prepare._

Patton packed his bag, shoving it into the corner where Virgil (hopefully) wouldn’t notice.

“Patton, it's bedtime.” Virgil called tiredly from the hammock.

“I have a headache,” Patton lied guiltily, stealthily sliding his bag out into the hallway with his foot. “I'm going to go get a drink.”

As he clicked the door shut, he could hear loud noises coming from the galley. Sneaking past the crew, he made his way up to the door.

Patton pressed the button to release the doors, walking into a room with small ships. _These are the fighter ships_ , Talyn had told him. _They're trackable and to small to steer easily, so we don't use them too often._

Patton chose one that was just a bit dusty. Loading his bag in, Patton clambered after it, and scanned the rows of buttons.

He chose the blue power button, but nothing happened.

A flashing them message blinked on the screen.

**You Must Have Authorization From The Bridge To Release The Pod.**

Patton climbed out. _Well, why don’t I go give myself authorization?_

“Pod 6,” he muttered aloud.

As he snuck out of the room, Patton though he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

He swiveled around.

Nothing.

_Must have been a trick of the light_.

Dodging around the rowdy entranceway to the galley, he stepped into the cool quiet bridge, humming with blue lights, and machinery, running on autopilot.

Patton looked at Talyn’s station, controlling weaponry.

Pod 1... Pod 2... 3… 4… 5... 6! He pushed the dark button, lighting it with a sky blue color.

It took all of Patton’s willpower not to sprint back to the pods, knowing that if he began coughing, he would either pass out or get caught.

Or, with the doctor's deadline so close, he might…

Patton pushed the thought towards the back of his head, noticing that Port 6 was now illuminated.

He climbed back into the pod, pressing the power button again.

_Just remember what Logan taught you._

And he flew off into space.

-

Virgil was terrified. Cowering in the back of the pod, he was worried they would crash, or that they would run out of whatever fuel powered this thing, or they would get stopped by a UP officer.

But he was most worried that Patton would see him, and insist on taking him home.

If Patton brought him back, they would waste time, time Patton might not have.

So Virgil stayed curled up in the back, worrying.

Many hours later, during which Virgil fell into a light, uncomfortable sleep, he was awoken by a horrified gasp.

“Virgil? Have you been back there this whole time?”

“Uh-huh.” Virgil murmured exhaustedly. “Are we on Firchen yet?”

“No-that looks so uncomfortable, Vee! There’s a copilot seat up here! Come sit!”

Virgil awkwardly clambered to the front, relieved to be away from the assorted junk had been sleeping on.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah-wait. Patton, _you’re_ the one about to have surgery. Are _you_ okay?”

Patton looked caught off guard by the question. “I don’t know. I’m a little nervous that something will go wrong. Or that I might not get there before my time runs out.”

Virgil could feel his own worry increase with every word Patton said. If Patton broke into a coughing fit, right now, what would happen to him?

“Virgil?”

“Y-yes?”

“I'm sorry for not telling you I was going. I should have let you know. How’d you get on here, anyway?”

“Oh! Well, I knew you'd probably try to leave because your surgery was soon, and nobody brings a bag to get water, so, I followed you. I was going to get into another ship and follow you, but then you left and I just got in this one.”

Patton’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Okay, I'm so glad you came. I felt awful having to lie to you. And you've been with me all this way, it seems only right you help me to the last step.”

“No.”

“What?”

“This isn’t the final step. At least, I hope not…”

Patton beamed. “Yeah! We're going to be together forever.”

Patton’s rays of happiness were infectious, and Virgil let his worries fall away.

There was a lot of time to kill before they reached Firchen. By the end of the trip, Virgil had taught Patton how to speak simple phrases of Terran, and in return, Virgil learned some English.

“If you hadn't been here, Vee, I don't know what I would have done!” Patton joked at one point.

But their laughs died down as Patton docked the pod.

They made their way into the bustling Hospital, Virgil fearful of the sights and sounds.

“Hello?” Patton asked an eight-legged receptionist whose nametag read Ruth, she /her.

All four eyes blinked towards him. Virgil thought she looked awesome, but Patton was physically trembling next to him.

“I-I have a surgery appointment?”

“ID?”

Patton fumbled through his bag. “Hold on, I'll get it.”

He searched through his bag, Ruth looking more and more impatient. “It's in here, I know it!”

Virgil pulled out the wristband from the side pocket. “Patton, I got it.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, snapping it on and holding his wrist out to her.

She scanned it, then waved a claw at a set of chairs.

“A nurse will be here to escort you in.”

The two took seats, and Patton let out a shaky sigh.

“You okay?”

Patton squeezed Virgil’s hand. “She looks like a spider, Virgil. I _hate_ spiders.”

Virgil grinned at the frightened man. “Well, you'll be happy to learn something happened to the bug chamber on the ships from Earth, and none of the spiders made it. So any spider in the entire universe is back on Earth.

Patton let out a _whoosh_ of relief. “Great. Let's never go back there then.”

“Wasn't planning on it.”

A nurse poked their head through a door. “Patton?” they said.

“That's me!” He turned to Virgil. “Last hug?”

“Last hug.”

They embraced each other tightly, and Virgil watched Patton walk away.

He had the sudden urge to shout for Patton. To make him come back.

But he didn't.

More waiting.

Virgil played games and watched shows half-heartedly on screen, looking up every time someone walked through the door.

And as his screen battery percentage neared 0, a couple of people came out, surrounding a bed.

Patton lay on the bed, silent and unmoving.

“Is he okay?” Virgil practically shouted, causing a few nurses to flinch.

“Yes, he's fine. We're pumping oxygen and sedatives through his bloodstream. He's probably not even lucid right now.”

At this, Patton’s head lolled back. His face remained impassive and calm, but in his eyes was a clear and panicked message.

_Help me._

“Well! You have to run some tests with your friend, so we need to keep them for about two months, alright?”

“I, uh-“

He must have nodded, because the doctors- and Patton- were heading for another door, and Virgil was bolting for the exit.

He skidded out onto the docks and boarded the pod, looking anxiously at all the buttons.

_Total lack of driving experience, don't fail me now_. he thought. _I have to save Patton._

It had been almost three weeks since Patton and Virgil had mysteriously disappeared off the ship.

On any other day, Logan would be able to use the cameras to see where they went.

_But the twins had to go and knock out the power supply_.

He continued on with his job, trying to convince himself that he didn't need to worry about the two boys – _men,_ he reminded himself, _they're the same age as you_.

One morning, as he stared at the stars at morning meal, a thought surfaced in his head. _Patton’s deadline’s up. Did he make it?_

Logan tried to ignore it. But he couldn't avoid the pang in his heart whenever he wondered if Patton had made it back.

He was saved from his thoughts by a voice.

“Captain! Captain!”

Logan put down his utensils. “Yes?”

Dee came to a halt in front of him. “Sorry to bother you,” he panted. “But we found them!”

“Who?”

“The twins! Their ship’s just sitting there in the middle of space.”

And we’ll need to be smart about this. Call everyone to the bridge, Dee, please.”

Standing above his crew, Logan announced, “I'm going to take a small ship, with a few of you aboard, to capture them. Our last fight failed because our ship was too large. That mistake I will not make again.”

Logan selected his crew. When he didn’t announce Dee, he looked heartbroken.

_I wanted to pick you_ , Logan wanted to tell him. _You're just too new_.

“The rest of you, return to the Domicile. They'll assign you to your new job.”

The journey was short and uneventful, and soon Logan was looking at the black ship the two criminals called home.

It looked quiet and still, seemingly innocuous.

Suspiciously so.

“I’ll go in first.” Logan volunteered. “It might be a trap. And besides, I want to see if I can get them to go peacefully.”

It was a lie, and all the crew knew it. But they allowed Logan to keep grasping at straws for Patton and Virgil, and he boarded the ship.

The layout was surprisingly similar to his own ship, and he found the bridge with no problem.

The problem was, Roman was already there. The thief didn't notice him at first, standing over a control panel, frantically flipping switches and pressing buttons. Logan cleared his throat, and they spun around, face showing confusion – and then a flash of realization when the UP space suit registered.

He lunged across the room, throwing Logan to the metal wall. “You!” he growled, eyes wild. “Did you take them back?”

Logan was so dazed that he couldn't make sense of what Roman was saying. Them?

Ragged breeding came from the doorway, and the two glanced over. A face Logan had spent too much time trying not to think about was there.

“They've got Patton.” Virgil panted.

Roman dropped Logan, almost tackling Virgil to the ground with a hug. “Are you okay? Did he take you back? How-“

Virgil placed a hand over his mouth. “I'm fine. Stop fussing, please, Roman. And no, Logan didn't take us. We left on their own.”

“Why?”

“Patton needed the surgery. He only had a few days left to live and Patton, sweet, Patton, couldn’t find a way to tell you that he would die if he didn’t get to the hospital.”

Logan stumbled over, dropping down to the ground with a _thud_. “But he made it, right? He got to Firchen?”

Virgil nodded.

“Fantastic.” Roman said, scanning the room. “So where is he?”

“Roman, he's gone. They took him. They wheeled him out of the room and he looked at me for help and I ran away. And now they've got him and I don't know what to do!”

Logan reached over Roman, laying a comforting hand on Virgil’s shoulder.

“There's an easy way to check if the Domicile does, in fact, have Patton.”

Getting up, the UP officer clicked the button on the radio.

“Yes, Captain?”

“I would like information on any recent captives taken it from the sector Sol - 194152.”

“ A Terran adult, lacking papers of identification and claiming to be from Earth. Why?”

“For clarification. Thank you.”

Both Roman and Virgil were huddled on the floor. Hot tears ran down his face as Roman’s mind ran wildly through what could be happening to him. Then a switch clicked in his brain, and scenarios pieced together in his head of how to rescue him.

_But first, I got to get this officer off my ship_.

Without warning, Roman dove for Logan’s legs, knocking him to the control panel up on the dais.

Holding him against the buttons, Roman growled. “Leave my ship. I'm going to get Patton.”

Frightened, Logan looked up at him… then his expression changed, and he took Roman out with a deft kick, and slammed him into the floor, holding a small obsidian blade to his throat.

“Stop!” Virgil screamed. “If you two can’t stop fighting, I'm going to find Patton myself!”

The two let out simultaneous huffs and got up.

“Look. I know you want me in jail,” Roman said. “And I want you off my back. But can we truce? There's something much more important now.”

“Patton.”

“Patton.”

They shook on it.

Roman turned to follow Virgil, who was gathering the rest of the crew in the galley. Behind him, he heard Logan talking on his radio.

“Yes. Yes, I'll be staying on their ship. They, uh, they promised to lead me to a load of treasure they stole if I lightened their sentence. I'll call you back in a couple of days.”

Then he took off his radio and crushed under his heel. “What? Just because we’re truced doesn't mean you get to stare at me.”

Roman shook off his grin and led the captain to the galley. “Crew, this is Logan. He'll be joining us for a few days to help us find Patton.”

“Didn’t he try to kill us?” someone called from the back, prompting scattered bursts of laughter. “We're well past that. We need Logan's expertise to get Patton out of the… what was the word you used?”

“Domicile. He was arrested for no ID and lying to an officer.”

Roman looked at Logan oddly. “Patton didn’t lie to an officer.”

“Well, he falsified the reason why he wouldn't have an ID. Earth was an extreme lie to go to. Everyone knows-“

“He’s a bit new here, isn’t he?” Remus stage-whispered.

For the first time, Logan seemed to notice that everyone was looking at him with a mixture of pity and amusement.

“Logan, Patton actually is from Earth.”

He's - what? We, we found him there. I told him not to tell anyone he was from Earth.” Roman added.

“Oh.” Logan’s face dimmed, then brightened again. Well, this should make it easier to use my ties and get him out of jail. All I need is a few months-“

Roman exploded. “No! We don’t have a few months! Eventually, the government will decide Patton’s of no use, and they'll dispose of him. I've lost too many crew members that way, Logan, and I will not let Patton follow!”

Heads bowed across the room as Roman breathed angrily, like a bull seeing red.

“Of course.” Logan murmured. “I always wondered why those captives were never able to be questioned. You're right, Roman. What should we do instead?”

“What if we break in and take him back?” Virgil asked. “We've got a captain on our side, why can't we just steal him?”

“Virgil, that’s… the best idea! Which way to the Domicile, Logan?”

“Wait.”

Logan said, and Romans heart stopped _. Is he going to stop us from going just because he's afraid of losing his job?_

“If we're actually going to break into the Domicile, we need a plan.”

Roman held back a sneeze as he crawled through the vents with Logan.

Virgil was outside, hopefully causing enough disturbance for Leo to disable the cameras.

“The vents and end here.” Logan called back to him. “Stay quiet, don't let anyone see you –“

“Patton is three rooms over.” Roman finished. “I know.”

Logan kicked the vent out, climbing from inside the wall and offering a hand to Roman.

They brushed dirt and cobwebs off themselves and Roman looked around the room.

A hoard of guards stared at the two men, baffled.

Roman groaned. “Logan, could you not have checked the room before we came in here?”

Logan was still preoccupied with the dust all over himself. “What, Roman?” He glanced up. “Oh.”

The guards all drew their weapons, an impressive array of blades all aimed at them.

“I knew this was coming,” Roman sighed, pulling out his electric sword. “Let's do this.”

He rushed into crowd, taking out a few unlucky guards with his first hits. Knocking down a guard with the pommel of his sword, he called, “Logan! Don't just stand there! Help!”

“Oh! My apologies, Roman!”

Their clashing styles of attack wove together gracefully as they slashed and stabbed, ending, panting, in the middle of the room.

Roman clicked off his sword.

“That weapon is extremely intriguing,” Logan commented. “Where did you get it?”

“Made it! With a little help from Leo, of course.”

“I saw it during the fight on Highfalutin’s property. May I touch it?”

Roman nodded, and Logan poked the metal rod, sending a spark shooting through his fingers.

Roman burst into laughter.

“What?”

“Your – your hair –“ Roman giggled a bit more, wiping his eyes. “Okay, Enough. Got to find Patton.”

The two peeked into the next room. Empty. Roman breathed a sigh of relief, inspecting a map on the wall.

“And Patton’s here, right, Lo?” he asked, reaching up to tap the next room over.

“Don't touch that? You leave fingerprints!” Logan hissed, racing over and swatting his hand away.

“I think the pile of unconscious guards in the last room is enough evidence for people to know someone was here.”

“Still, you think they’ll know who? Because they will if you touch that map!”

Roman rolled his eyes and entered the next room.

A cold, cavernous room stretched out, lined with cages and cells reaching all the way to the top. Lined with guards too, all simultaneously turning their heads to look at the intruders.

“Here we go again,” sighed Roman, pulling his electric sword from it’s scabbard.

And they jumped into the fray. It seemed like they were winning until Roman got pushed. He skidded across the floor, painfully smacking his head into a bar.

When he opened his eyes dizzily, Logan was hovering over him. “Roman! Please, wake up! And behind him hovered a menacing shadow.

“Lo…” he croaked.

Logan spun around, moving to shield Roman with his own body. The tip of the sword meant for Roman’s chest dove for him and stopped, an inch from Logan's beating heart.

“Captain?” the figure whispered.

Logan hesitated. “Dee?”

They began to laugh. “I knew it, I knew you would come for him.”

“Dee, I'm sorry, I –“

Roman didn't see what it was, but Dee put something into his hands. “I wanted him free too.” they muttered.

And then they were gone.

Logan opened his hand, in awe of the tiny gold key.

“Thank you, Dee.”

The two stood, and Roman finally noticed the scattered bodies where there was once a crowd of angry soldiers.

“What happened to them all?

“I don't know.” Logan demurred. “I believe I may have went a little crazy after you got knocked out.”

He caught Roman’s stare and quickly cleared his throat. “For the sole purpose of saving Patton, of course.”

“Right. Yeah. Of course.”

The strange silence was interrupted by Virgil dropping from the very high ceiling vent.

Gracefully, Roman and Logan caught him.

“Logan? I'm here to help!”

“Help?”

“Oh.” Virgil blushed. “I heard Roman’s bracelet go off, and I assumed…”

“Musta gotten pressed when Dee threw me across the room,” Roman joked. “We're going to go look for Patton. Want to help?”

Of course, Virgil said yes, so the three of them split up, walking along the catwalks on different levels.

Roman, walking along the second walk, found him.

“Logan! Virgil!” He whisper - shouted. “Patton’s here!”

Logan slid the key into the lock and opened the musty cell door. Patton lay unmoving on the floor.

The three knelt down by his head, Roman gently saying, “Patton? Patton, sunshine, wake up.”

“Rom’n?” he asked, squinting in the shafts of light issuing from between the bars.

“Morning, sunshine. We're going to get you out of here.”

-

Roman’s words were nothing more than a buzz as Patton’s eyes registered the other two people in the room.

Virgil and Logan's gentle gazes were calming, allowing Patton to relax a bit.

Roman hoisted him up, Patton weakly clinging to his chest. “Ow, Pat, you're going to make me fall over”. Roman winced.

Logan took the burden of Patton’s exhausted body, slinging him onto his back, where all Patton could do was hold on as the three descended the metal stairs and escaped the room.

Virgil tagged along behind Logan, casting worried glances at the former prisoner.

The fifth time it happened, Patton said breathlessly.” Virgil. I'm fine, my new lungs just haven't gotten the best treatment, sitting in a dusty cell. I'll be okay as soon as –“ He coughed.

The others immediately stopped, Logan setting him down against the wall.

“No, guys, it’s okay. The doctor told me that the lungs would clean themselves like that. No more coughing fits for this boy!” He wobbled to his feet and grinned. “Plus, I’ve got enough oxygen intake to stand now!”

Roman grinned, and they all took off down the hallway, faster now that Patton was standing on his own.

The hallways were emptier than they had been when Patton was brought in, and he wondered what had happened to all the guards.

“This room should lead up to the exit,” Virgil said, reading off a map on his screen.

Logan tugged on the handle. “Roman, come help me.”

The captain and the criminal pulled on the door until something cracked, and the door swung open right into a gathering of people.

“Uh oh,” Virgil whispered behind him.

The people in the room look to be mostly Terran, old, white, men. Patton didn’t recognize any of them (obviously), but Roman did.

“H–Highfalutin!” he gasped, pointing a shaking finger at an old man sitting at the table.

The man's face converted into confusion, then quickly cleared. “And you're the boy pirate who decided it was a good idea to rob my moon.” he snarled, pasting a fake, dangerous smile on his face.

“We saw the letters!” Roman shouted, and Patton silently cheered, despite having no idea what was going on. “I know what you did!”

“Oh, yes?” Out of the corner of his eye, Patton saw Virgil raise his screen. “Well, it doesn’t matter how much damage I did to that planet, or how much you know. Because none of you are getting out of here alive.”

He turned and stalked back to his seat at the head of the table, waving his hand at the guard station across the room. “Call security.”

The guard pressed the button on their wrist, and rushed towards them.

Patton, about to wrestle the guard to the ground, was interrupted by Roman. Roman, delivering a swift upper uppercut to the guards jaw.

Virgil and Logan dragged them out of the room, Logan berating Roman for engaging with Highfalutin.

Virgil tapped Patton excitedly on the shoulder. “Look!” he said, shoving his screen under Patton’s nose.

Patton watched a tiny Highfalutin repeat the words, “It doesn't matter how much damage I did to that planet,” over and over again.

“He confessed!” Virgil practically squealed. “This is perfect!”

“What did –“ Patton began to ask, then fell silent. Someone was coming. Scratch that, a lot of someones were coming.

“The guards.” Virgil whispered.

Roman and Logan stopped arguing and drew their weapons.

Patton was unarmed, but instead of shrinking back against the wall like Virgil, he sprinted towards the rhythmic footsteps.

Skidding around the corner, he hurled himself into their midst, his new lungs giving him freedom he hadn't felt in years.

Whirling around and around, punching and kicking, he was standing alone in the corridor by the time his friends came around the corner. “What?” Roman asked. “Sunshine, did you take out all these guys by yourself?”

“Yep!” Patton chirped, only slightly out of breath.

“Maybe I need to start calling you Solar Flare.” Roman joked.

They were all about to leave the site of carnage when someone croaked from the floor.

“Captain Logan?”

Thea, it’s eye glassily gazing up at the four of them, said, “Captain? Why are you with…”

Logan knelt down next to it. “Thea, I'm not your captain anymore. I'm joining the Mutiny.”

“Okay.” it emerged. “I trust you Logan. I'll be there too. Save a spot in the rebellion for me.”

“I will.”

With Logan's words, it’s eye closed, it’s breathing deep and heavy.

“Most dramatic crew member ever,” Logan said, rolling his eyes fondly as he stood.

“The door’s just up ahead. Come on!”

-Two Months Later-

Every public screen across 170 solar systems suddenly flickered to the same picture. Roman, standing in front of the control center, looking at something on his screen.

“It's rolling!” Thea’s voice came from somewhere above the camera.

Roman jolted, then grinned for the camera. “Hi, I’m Roman. You may know me from…” he hesitated.

“The wanted posters, darling.” Logan's voice echoed from off to the side.

“Right, the wanted posters. Well I'm your resident history - nerd - space - pirate, and I'm going to tell you what really happened to Earth twenty-one years ago. I, and my friends, Logan, Virgil, and Patton, are going to make our final plea to the universe.”


End file.
